You might think that a cute, thirsty pug has very little to do with Classical Greek philosopher Plato.
But this particular little pug who just wanted a drink ended up being the perfect visual representation of one of Plato’s most well-known allegories, “The Allegory of the Cave.”
The allegory is, simply put, about mistaking appearance for reality. In Plato’s allegory, a group of prisoners are chained facing a wall, and only ever exposed to shadows, and not the objects that cast them. This leads them to think that the shadow is the thing itself.
And this little pug did a pretty good job of illustrating that allegory by attempting to drink from the shadow of a running tap.
Twitter user @bijanstephen shared a video of the pug with the caption “I’ve never seen a clearer explanation of Plato’s cave.”
i’ve never seen a clearer explanation of plato’s cave pic.twitter.com/R8EIgpdLIx
— SEO Weedwagon (@bijanstephen) October 23, 2018
People on twitter were into the little pug, who is probably unaware of how brilliant that tap shadow drinking bit is.
This pug’s serving some Theory of Forms / Allegory of the Cave realness. Day. is. made. https://t.co/h76JTdLa5c
— essa (@essasantos) October 24, 2018
Excellent: the Allegory of The Cave has finally been captured in gif form. https://t.co/vj0fRLZAk9
— 🧠 Grant R. Vousden-Dishington (@usethespacebar) October 24, 2018
can’t decide if deep or just fucking adorable https://t.co/SYAlsj1NbA
— Jon-Erik Nelson (@beardotron5000) October 23, 2018
currently in my philosophy class and wowow hahahahah https://t.co/JaFfpFcE9t
— sad girl (@guadalupe12110) October 24, 2018
Some Twitterers pointed out that, per Plato, the person filming is actually morally obliged to help the poor pug figure that the shadow of water is not the same as water.
If I remember my Plato, the camera holder has a moral duty to get that pug some water.
— Gary Alexander (@grylxndr) October 23, 2018
Quite brilliant. Also, the camera holder definitely has a moral duty to give this doggo some water. https://t.co/Tf8D8H1Wqn
— Greiko (@CraigoTweets) October 24, 2018
Thank you, pug, for teaching me what my High School philosophy class couldn’t.
Read more: https://mashable.com/article/pug-plato-cave-twitter/